I have been lurking for quite a while on this forum and DP. I will say that the situation in these forums has reminded me of a similar situation brewing in my home town of Denver since the news of us getting Peyton Manning. Tebow fans have become completely irrational to the point of losing the bigger picture (pun intended) of the how the different player's skills will be utilized for a winning team. They are so blinded by their disappointment that they fail to see all the benefits of bringing an older, but proven player into town. Ok, so maybe that analogy is terrible, but I thought I'd throw it out there (again, pun intended).
On to the meat of the post; I have scoured all the different sample images that have been posted and directed on these forums. I think one that has received the most attention have been the imaging resources sample images, and after looking at all the different permutations that have been posted I don't really know what to think, especially when compared to the D800.
I was recently emailed this link:
http://www.slrlounge.com/on-imaging-resources-canon-5d-mkiii-vs-nikon-d800-studio-sample-comparison
I looked at the comparisons on it and was shocked at how much sharper and less noisy the 5Dmkiii looked when compared to the d800, especially after all the opposite results that I had seen on this and other forums. I was so surprised especially by the sharpness of the 5d images that I actually figured they might have gotten them backward. I know that they are jpeg images and RAW, blah, blah but to me JPEG is as important as RAW (I am a pro that shoots more JPEG than RAW).
The tool they used to compare the cameras was actually built into the imaging resources website, it's called the comparometer, and it is similar to the comparison part of the dpreview website (but not nearly as slick). Since dp doesn't have either camera added to its comparison tool yet this one is the best we have. I urge you to try it out, not only can you compare to the mkii and the D800, but you can also compare to your current camera. In my case I am moving over from pentax, and I have been shooting the K5 for the last year or so. The K5 has the vaunted exmor Sony sensor (same as the D7000, and a permutation of the d800) that everyone croons about. It has been a great camera, but using the comparometer I can see how much superior the mkiii is going to be in IQ. Try it, it's fun.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
Finally, I just want to give my 2 cents on why this is my dream camera, and why I have been shooting professionally for 3 years using a non-canikon company. I shoot a lot of HDRI (I know many of you already hate me) but it has been a lucrative part of my pro and art photography and I find the uniqueness of images I can create using it gives me freedom to move beyond the limitations of a single exposure and into a more realistic approximation of how the human visual system is constantly merging vastly different lighting conditions into a visual representation of the world around us (sorry for the jargon, but I'm studying sensory systems in my PhD work). It doesn't take a single exposure, and thus when you look at the outside world from inside a building you don't see blown out windows when you see the interior, and vice versus. You "see" the whole dynamic range. Anyhow, until now the only camera system that had better AEB (which is very important to me since manually bracketing is not possible when handheld shooting) than pentax has been the 1D. The 1D could do 7 shot bracket at 3 ev stops per bracket so could get a max of 18 stops of DR, Nikon, in its high end D3x and D4 can do 11 shots (d800 can do 9), but only at 1 ev spacing per shot they only have a max of 10 stops (or 8 for the d800). My pentax can do 5 at 2 ev so it can get 8 ev in far less shots than nikon which is very important due to speed and lack of movement. It was never really an option to get into the 1D due to price, but more importantly size (as I travel a lot). The 5d has finally gotten the AEB of the 1D series and that is amazing for me, on top of that it is full frame (which I have always wanted for low light and DOF reasons), and sinc I have been shooting more and more sports professionally the amazing new autofocus is the cherry on top.
Sorry for the rant. I'm preordered from B&H since March 2 and am waiting on pins an needles. I already bought a 70-200 2.8 IS, a siggy 12-24mm rectilinear, and a 50mm 1.2L, as my starting kit and drool looking at the lenses each day waiting.
If you want to see examples of my work see below. Also, looking forward to being a canon man...
www.flickr.com/benison
On to the meat of the post; I have scoured all the different sample images that have been posted and directed on these forums. I think one that has received the most attention have been the imaging resources sample images, and after looking at all the different permutations that have been posted I don't really know what to think, especially when compared to the D800.
I was recently emailed this link:
http://www.slrlounge.com/on-imaging-resources-canon-5d-mkiii-vs-nikon-d800-studio-sample-comparison
I looked at the comparisons on it and was shocked at how much sharper and less noisy the 5Dmkiii looked when compared to the d800, especially after all the opposite results that I had seen on this and other forums. I was so surprised especially by the sharpness of the 5d images that I actually figured they might have gotten them backward. I know that they are jpeg images and RAW, blah, blah but to me JPEG is as important as RAW (I am a pro that shoots more JPEG than RAW).
The tool they used to compare the cameras was actually built into the imaging resources website, it's called the comparometer, and it is similar to the comparison part of the dpreview website (but not nearly as slick). Since dp doesn't have either camera added to its comparison tool yet this one is the best we have. I urge you to try it out, not only can you compare to the mkii and the D800, but you can also compare to your current camera. In my case I am moving over from pentax, and I have been shooting the K5 for the last year or so. The K5 has the vaunted exmor Sony sensor (same as the D7000, and a permutation of the d800) that everyone croons about. It has been a great camera, but using the comparometer I can see how much superior the mkiii is going to be in IQ. Try it, it's fun.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
Finally, I just want to give my 2 cents on why this is my dream camera, and why I have been shooting professionally for 3 years using a non-canikon company. I shoot a lot of HDRI (I know many of you already hate me) but it has been a lucrative part of my pro and art photography and I find the uniqueness of images I can create using it gives me freedom to move beyond the limitations of a single exposure and into a more realistic approximation of how the human visual system is constantly merging vastly different lighting conditions into a visual representation of the world around us (sorry for the jargon, but I'm studying sensory systems in my PhD work). It doesn't take a single exposure, and thus when you look at the outside world from inside a building you don't see blown out windows when you see the interior, and vice versus. You "see" the whole dynamic range. Anyhow, until now the only camera system that had better AEB (which is very important to me since manually bracketing is not possible when handheld shooting) than pentax has been the 1D. The 1D could do 7 shot bracket at 3 ev stops per bracket so could get a max of 18 stops of DR, Nikon, in its high end D3x and D4 can do 11 shots (d800 can do 9), but only at 1 ev spacing per shot they only have a max of 10 stops (or 8 for the d800). My pentax can do 5 at 2 ev so it can get 8 ev in far less shots than nikon which is very important due to speed and lack of movement. It was never really an option to get into the 1D due to price, but more importantly size (as I travel a lot). The 5d has finally gotten the AEB of the 1D series and that is amazing for me, on top of that it is full frame (which I have always wanted for low light and DOF reasons), and sinc I have been shooting more and more sports professionally the amazing new autofocus is the cherry on top.
Sorry for the rant. I'm preordered from B&H since March 2 and am waiting on pins an needles. I already bought a 70-200 2.8 IS, a siggy 12-24mm rectilinear, and a 50mm 1.2L, as my starting kit and drool looking at the lenses each day waiting.
If you want to see examples of my work see below. Also, looking forward to being a canon man...
www.flickr.com/benison